EU starts dumping probe of Chinese candles, steel

bbj.hu

Monday, February 18, 2008, 08:13

European Union trade inspectors have launched investigations into whether imports from China of candles and some steel products are being dumped, raising the prospect of further trade tensions within the bloc.

European candle makers, from Germany, the Netherlands and other countries, complained to the European Commission in January that they were being damaged by illegal pricing by Chinese rivals, accusing them of getting unfair export aid. “Having determined ... that there is sufficient evidence to justify the initiation of a proceeding, the Commission hereby initiates an investigation,” a notice in the EU’s Official Journal said on Saturday. The journal also announced the launch of an anti-dumping investigation into imports from China of steel wire and wire strands used in the construction industry, after complaints by producers in countries including Spain and the Netherlands. A growing number of European manufacturers have sought to fend off what they consider to be unfair competition from China with EU anti-dumping duties.

European trade chief Peter Mandelson has accused China of doing too little to rein in its snowballing trade surplus. The Commission recently launched two separate investigations into imports of Chinese steel after European steelmakers complained of dumping by the Asian export powerhouse. China has denied the allegations of dumping. It is not just Beijing, which is worried by the prospect of new, punitive duties being applied to imports from China.

European retailers, such as Sweden’s Ikea, fear an increase in the price of candles, which they import in large volumes from China, and engineering and shipbuilding companies that consume steel oppose duties on their imports. EU governments have split in recent years over whether to impose duties on imports such as shoes and energy-saving light bulbs from China and other Asian countries, and Mandelson has put on hold his plans to reform the EU’s anti-dumping rules. The launch of an anti-dumping investigation by the Commission may lead to the imposition of provisional duties within nine months. (Reuters)

Related articles

Agricultural producer prices overall remained unchanged in June 2018 compared to June 2017, resulting from an increase of 3.5% in the average price of crop products and a decline of 5.6% in prices of livestock and animal products, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported on Tuesday.

Hungaryʼs government has discussed a ban on skyscrapers in Budapest to preserve the traditional profile of the capital. However, the ban would not apply to the planned office building of national oil and gas company MOL.

Low water levels on the Danube have reduced freight capacity on the stretch of the river that runs through Hungary by two-thirds. High temperatures in August and drought have severely lowered the Danube water level, now at 93 centimeters in Budapest.

In the second quarter of 2018, gross domestic product (GDP) in Hungary rose by 4.4% according to seasonally and calendar-adjusted and reconciled data, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a flash report released on Tuesday.

The main reason for real estate acquisition in Hungary is investment, according to a recent study by real estate broker Duna House. Interestingly, entrepreneurs ranked only second as the most active buyers of property.

Forint liquidity of Hungaryʼs banking sector narrowed in July from a month earlier, which was mainly reflected in a decrease in the average stock of one-day deposits, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) said in a report based on preliminary data on Monday.

One-fifth of Hungarian pensioners, or about half a million people, would be willing to take a job, shows a survey carried out by the GKI economic research institute in June 2018, cited by state news agency MTI on Monday.

In June 2018, the volume of industrial output in Hungary grew by 4.2% year-on-year, according to a second estimate of data by the Central Statistical Office (KSH), confirming the headline figure released on August 8. Based on working day-adjusted data, production rose by 3.1%.

Real estate developer and investment company Wing Zrt. announced on Friday the sale of the MOM Park shopping mall and office property building complex in Buda. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.